When in 1999 westport shipyard announced its intention to build four 130-foot production yachts per year on spec, industry pundits simply shook their heads and declared, "No way." They were wrong.

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Three years ago, the company announced a similar program for 50-meter (164-foot) boats. The reaction was the same, this time with the detractors’ rationale being that buyers of larger yachts could not be enticed by a production-built product. Wrong again.

On February 6, 2006, Westport Hull No. 5001 was launched in Port Angeles, Washington. Called Vango (van-GOH’), the boat is replacing the owner’s 130-foot (39.6-meter) Westport of the same name, and the differences in quality, styling and finish between the two models are so striking that even the most ardent naysayers are sure to be converted.

In the world of production yachtbuilding, design and quality are the cornerstones on which success is built. Price, while extremely important, only comes into play after the first two pieces of the foundation are in place. Company president Daryl Wakefield noted that Westport knew from Day One that the 164-footer was an ambitious project made even more so by the fact that as boats get bigger, the number of potential customers becomes smaller by a factor of two or three. Therefore, it was imperative that the new model be as close to perfect as possible, not only from a design standpoint, but from the perspective of price point as well. (Click image to enlarge)

The 164-foot project reunited a group that had worked successfully on an award-winning project in the early nineties. At the time, Orin Edson, who is now a majority shareholder in Westport, had commissioned William Garden to draw the lines for Evviva, with styling and interior design by Donald Starkey. The boat was built by Admiral Marine, a company run at the time by Wakefield.

Vango shares much of this heritage, but in this case, structural calculations, weight studies and other critical engineering functions were under the purview of Taylor Olson, Westport’s in-house naval architect, and his staff. Furthermore, the production planning needed for the 164-foot project required that Starkey create a set of standard interior details that would at once be attractive, luxurious and able to be produced with the high degree of repeatability that is designed into all joinery built by Westport’s furniture plant, located at the Port Angeles airport.

Vango is proof positive that, where the 164-foot project is concerned, standardization does not equate to lesser quality. Starkey’s design details are complex and manifold and, as is certainly most important from the customer’s point of view, they are executed with precision and finished to perfection. Throughout the boat, various combinations of mahogany and pommele sapele are employed in the furnishings and bulkhead panels. Here and there, high-gloss lacquer is used to provide accents and lighten the overall look of some furniture pieces. Rich, upholstered panels are also used throughout the luxury accommodations to add texture, color and softness as well as to help attenuate noise. Stone soles, countertops and bulkhead facings were installed by Jeff Homchick, and each of the choices is memorable. (Click image to enlarge)

In addition to space planning and joinery details, Starkey is also responsible for décor on each of the 164-foot boats. Owners work with him to specify various wood species and soft goods as well as movable furniture."For Vango," Starkey noted, "we decided on the mahogany and pommele mahogany combination as a classic wooden interior that would have a [broad] appeal. Complementing this would be modern detailing to follow the modern style of the exterior. The interior has been detailed with built-in features that allow a buyer to change wood finishes without upsetting the production methods."

One of the key elements in the design of all Westport offerings is speed, and the 164-footer is no exception. Designed with a maximum speed target of 24 knots, the boat attained more than 25 knots during trials at half load and can cruise comfortably and quietly—as well as fairly economically—at 20. Surprisingly, this has been accomplished with a relatively generous beam and a draft that will allow the boat to be easily operated in shoal areas such as the Bahamas and southern New England.

The same beam and draft combination does not appreciably reduce the boat’s interior volume. In fact, the 164 has a spacious, well thought out arrangement that is sure to please most potential customers, including those contemplating far more expensive yachts from custom builders. It is also noteworthy that the boat is classed by the ABS and was carefully designed to admeasure at less than 500 gross tons.

"During the development of the detailed design," Starkey recalled, "fine-tuning adjustments were made to ensure compliance with the tonnage rules, and so what might have been considered reductions in space became benefits.

"Examples are the upper-deck side terraces, created to reduce the internal volume; one being accessible from the VIP suite on the starboard side and one on the port side, from the bar area in the lounge. The forward area in front of the bridge was extended to reduce measurable volume in the forward deckhouse, providing a further outside entertaining area, and the extensive sun-deck area, for the same measurement reason, became comparable with yachts of 180 feet or more."

As most readers know, Westport has continued to refine its production yachtbuilding methods year after year, and while the 164 sets a higher standard of finish, the boat strictly adheres to Westport’s precept of lean manufacturing. One construction detail that any builder would find impressive is the small number of parts that are required to assemble the boat. Because the boat was designed in great detail before any work began on the tooling, and because the boats are constructed in a purpose-built facility, the 164 can be assembled from only six large FRP parts. Furthermore, the company’s real-time tracking and accounting system allows Westport to use just-in-time ordering procedures that minimize the requirement for warehouse space and dramatically lower the need to carry expensive inventory for long periods of time.

This system, however, does not overly limit the customer in terms of layout. Wakefield noted that the builder will work with customers to arrive at an arrangement that is personalized to the highest degree possible.

"Our [mission]," he explained, "is to offer a turnkey, first-class production yacht with reasonable flexibility in layout. We won’t move structural bulkheads, but we will move partitions."As an example, Vango’s general arrangement provides three guest cabins and an exercise room on the lower deck, a master suite on the main deck, and a VIP suite and bar on the bridge deck. Layouts for other customers replace the exercise room with another guest cabin, remove the bridge-deck bar or replace the elevator with stores on each of the three decks.

"On Hull [No.] 2," said Starkey, "the VIP suite—including the ‘skylounge’—will become the owner’s suite, and there is the possibility that the starboard guest suite (through which access is available for servicing the guest suites) can be adapted as a gym with fold-down Pullmans."

No matter the final layout chosen by a customer, the arrangement allows for properly sized crew accommodations and dedicated crew access to all decks, precluding the need for staff to use the stairways in the luxury accommodations. Furthermore, to meet the standards to receive a compliance certificate from the MCA, the living spaces all conform to the requirement for multiple paths of egress, and the boat is fitted with the appropriate number of watertight bulkheads to prevent downflooding.

The arrangement of exterior lounges has also been given a great deal of thought. All decks have combinations of open and covered spaces, and because the 14-foot crew tender/rescue boat can be carried on the foredeck, and the main tender—a 22-foot diesel Nautica RIB—stows in a garage on the lower deck, the aft decks on all levels can be easily cleared for gatherings.

The high level of interior finish is not only relegated to the luxury accommodations. The crew areas employ lovely contemporary joinery composed of medium-toned, naturally finished anigre panels set in contrasting light maple framing. Passage doors are built using a medallion of book-matched veneers accented by a thin, dark inlaid border, which give them a rich, clean, upscale look.

All boats of this size require properly designed spaces that allow the hotel side to run smoothly during extended cruises. Vango’s galley, created by specialist Fred Lillian of Restaurant Design, is absolutely first rate and is supplemented by a set of walk-ins on the same deck. On the engineering side, well-arranged machinery spaces allow easy access to all equipment for maintenance and inspection.

From the customer’s perspective, the Westport 164 has it all and should be a serious contender for buyers who are looking at boats of this size. The details and systems are all there, and the execution is exemplary throughout.

"The object," said Wakefield about the design, finish and outfitting, "was to take away any objections a potential customer might have."

Starkey agreed. "Having worked with Orin before, I had no reason to doubt that quality and attention to details would be of paramount importance. It is refreshing to work with a builder who is not trying to cut corners, but who is more concerned with developing efficient techniques for ease of production over reducing costs, and I have sensed while working on this project that there is a real determination to get the interior finishes as close to perfect as possible."